ASEAN Tag

China has launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with the conspicuous absence of the United States and its major allies. With China hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, this issue is coming to a boil.
The US' absence should not surprise. The bank proposal...

News of ISIS successfully targeting Southeast Asian professionals and women have worrying implications for the region. Earlier this month, Malaysia announced the arrest of 14 individuals suspected of links to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), including a senior assistant director at Malaysia’s...

When Japanese and American trade negotiators met in Washington DC last week, their bilateral discussions mattered to many other countries. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has grown to include twelve countries that represent some 40 per cent of global GDP and about one-third of all...

Chinese President Xi Jinping just concluded his rounds in South Asia, with recent visits to India, Sri Lanka and Maldives to build on bilateral ties as well as to deepen economic cooperation. Back home, China also unveiled its economic plans for Asia through forums like...

A united geopolitical voice would give the Association of Southeast Asian Nations a bigger global role, says Simon Tay, the chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its ten member states join in the establishment of...

The sale of Islamic State (IS) flags in Singapore may simply be an isolated incident. But it is a reminder that the conflict in Iraq and Syria has real implications for our region. There are IS supporters in Southeast Asia with the long-term goal of...

SINGAPORE — Twelve years after signing the regional haze pact, Indonesia’s Parliament gave its unanimous approval yesterday to ratify the pact, offering a glimmer of hope that more would be done to ensure fewer haze episodes for Singapore and other neighbouring countries.
In doing so, Indonesia...

COUNTRIES IN Asean, including Thailand, should not seek to choose between the majors powers or to be neutral, but should be close to both the United States and China, a Singaporean academic said yesterday.
"I don't think it's in Thailand's interests to be too close to...

It may not be full speed ahead for the “Chinese high-speed railway diplomacy” aimed at improving China’s links with Southeast Asia. Dubbed as Beijing’s thinly-veiled plans to assert its power and influence over the region, Chinese involvement also promises to help ASEAN achieve its connectivity...

Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group was the first foreign investor to enter China when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping opened the economy in 1979. Its registration number in China is 001. Today, the agribusiness giant employs some 80,000 people for its US$9 billion (S$11 billion)...